The Machine
The Machine is a piece of software built and designed by Harold Finch and Nathan Ingram for the United States government. Currently owned by the U.S. government, it utilizes feeds from domestic organisations such as the NSA, and foreign entities including Interpol to foresee terrorist attacks and modify intelligence reports by including this 'relevant' data, allowing the government to forestall terrorist activity. Combined with collected data from various other sources, such as video footage, phone calls (landline, VOIP, mobile), GPS, electronic transactions, e-mails and other social media secretly it is able to accurately predict violent acts without anyone knowing about its existence. About Development After 9/11, the U.S. government allowed itself to read every email, listen to every cell phone, but they needed a computer system that could scan through all the information and identify terrorists before they could act. After trials with projects like Trailblazer, TIA, and Stellar Wind had been proven unsuccessful, the Machine was commissioned. Development was handed over to Nathan Ingram, who seemed to have had connections to the government. When the Machine was finalised, he sold it to the government for $1. It went online on February 24, 2005. History Classification The Machine sorts through all available information and categorizes persons of interest into relevant (terrorism) and irrelevant (everything else) cases. When a relevant threat has been identified, the information will be forwarded to the NSA or the FBI , without leaving a hint about where the information originated. Every night at midnight, the Machine erases the list of irrelevant cases, for example violent crimes, domestic violence or other premeditated acts that do not threaten national security. Finch later realized that the irrelevant list contained people about to be involved in bad situations, which he later came to believe was just as important as the "relevant" list. Finch therefore utilized the backdoor to the Machine (put in place by Nathan Ingram) in order to access the irrelevant list. Access The exact location of the Machine servers remains unknown. After it was handed over to the government, it was shipped from Des Moines, Iowa to Salt Lake City, Utah. Finch stated on several occasions that he has no way of accessing it and that he also doesn’t know where the servers are stored. The Machine has been coded in a way so that it cannot be accessed in any way. It is able to update, maintain, and patch itself. Assessment In Artificial intelligence (AI) it is known as "Machine Learning". S01E08 Foe *The Machine's accessed the National Clandestine Service's archive in Machine feed.jpg Hi-Res Prague.jpg S01E11 Super *The Machine is reviewing its archives . 1x11 ShootingDate.jpg Reese-shot1.jpg Reese-shot2.jpg Reese-shot1.jpg Reese-shot3.jpg Reese-shot1.jpg Reese-shot4.jpg *The Machine is looking for Reese. Machine-cam1.jpg Machine-cam2.jpg Machine-cam3.jpg Machine-cam4.jpg Machine-cam5.jpg Machine-cam6.jpg Machine-cam7.jpg Machine-cam8.jpg *The Machine evaluates Alicia Corwin and Denton Weeks as they visit Nathan Ingram to talk about the progress of building the Machine. Machine-cam9.jpg Machine-cam10.jpg Machine-cam11.jpg Machine-cam12.jpg Machine-cam13.jpg|APNSA (Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs) Machine-cam14.jpg|Alicia Corwin identifies Denton Weeks as a Deputy Director Machine-cam15.jpg|Fort Meade, The location for the National Security Agency (NSA); Responsible for Signals Intelligence Machine-cam16.jpg|This and the following video stills indicate the Machine reviewed its access log to conclude that Denton Weeks perpetated the unauthorized incoming connections attempts against the Machine. As a result deem him to be a "threat to the system" Machine-cam17.jpg|Apparently the hacking attempts started on 11/20/2004 4:09am, as stated on the previous still, to the latest entry on the last frame at 1/30/2005 at 12:45 am Machine-cam18.jpg Machine-cam19.jpg S01E23 Firewall *The Machine determines that "Caroline Turning" (or Root) has knowledge of the Machine . Root-capture 1.jpg Root-capture 2.jpg Root-capture 3.jpg Root-capture 4.jpg Root-capture 5.jpg *The Machine is evaluating its options in Communication The Machine uses the Dewey Decimal Classification to communicate new Social Security Numbers. Whenever it identifies a person of interest, the information is relayed to Finch by phone (call or text message). He would then use a public pay phone to receive call numbers of books that are cataloged by DDC. Combining their DDC numbers allows him to put together the SSN. It is to assume that the Machine is programmed to send the number in the exact order as they appear in the Social Security Number of the next person of interest. Dewey2.jpg|Books with the call signs Family/Alpha, Mike Uncertainty/Romeo, Kilo Reflections/ Juliet, Oscar SSN.jpg|... form the Social Security Number for Leon Tao The Machine only contacts Finch if it perceives a threat regarded as "irrelevant" yet imminent. It is yet unclear to what extend the Machine is self-aware or sentient and how far Finch is able to control it. Flashbacks indicate that the Machine once took an active interest in safeguarding Finch, but he has since set boundaries on such conduct. Finch himself is adamant that the Machine have no form of remote access, as it could be used by a hacker to gain control. Under certain circumstances, it appears to be possible for the system administrator (Finch) or a recognised asset (Reese) to communicate with the Machine by talking into any security or traffic camera. , The Machine would flash a red light to indicate that it is processing the request. Contingency The contingency is an additional function added by Nathan Ingram just before the Machine was shut down and packed for transport. Unbeknownst to Finch, Ingram created this function to get access to those numbers that were sorted out as non-relevant. Shortly after the Machine left IFT, the contingency function sent the first irrelevant number to Ingram. It has yet to be determined when Finch found out about the backdoor or if he had built one of his own, as stated when he first told Reese about the Machine. People who know about the Machine By the time of its creation officially seven people knew about the Machine. Except for Ingram, nobody else knew of Finch also being involved, therefore, in fact eight people were aware of its existence. ("No Good Deed") *Nathan Ingram *Harold Finch *Alicia Corwin *Denton Weeks *Pennsylvania Two *Daniel Aquino - unknown whether he was one of the original eight, or if he was told about the Machine later. He was assigned a yellow square in 2011 A few more people came to know about the Machine later: *John Reese (learnt about the Machine through working with Finch. If Reese understands Chinese, it is possible he learned of the Machine during the mission to Ordos, China. , ) *Henry Peck (unknowingly discovered the Machine through his work at the NSA) *Root (she found out about the Machine and later sets out on a mission to "set it free") Coloured squares & symbols People The Machine applies different coloured squares to people in order to distinguish relevant from non-relevant threats as well as people who know about the Machine from those who do not. White squares - generally for people who don't know about the Machine. It seems the Machine assigns white squares to people who are under its investigation due to conspicuous behaviour but do not pose an immediate threat to somebody else. White squares with red corners - for people who are an imminent threat to another person. These people might not have planned the attack themselves and only follow orders given by somebody else. Yellow squares - for people who know about the Machine. Blue Squares - for members of the maintainers of the "relevant" list. Red squares - for people who may be a threat to the system administrator (Finch) or to the Machine itself. (white because he doesn't know about the Machine) and Reese (yellow because he knows) turn red after the Machine found out that they were investigating Finch. ]] Watercraft and aircraft In addition, the Machine also distinguishes watercraft and aircraft. Boats, ships and ferries are assigned a white diamond while airplanes and helicopters receive a green triangle along with flight coordinates and airport codes. The Machine likely tracks these vehicles to report if they have been hijacked, in order to prevent another tragedy similar to 9/11. Exclusion zones The Machine monitors areas around potential terrorist targets, such as skylanes, shipping lanes, and major railroads. Also included are locations highly classified by the Department of Defense. Trivia *The extent of Nathan Ingram's contingency protocol inside the Machine is unknown. During Finch's absence the Machine tasked Reese with the job of searching and protecting the numbers that came up, thus implying that Reese or any immediate asset are part of that contingency. Notes The producer's commentary on the Season 1 DVD confirms that in Flashbacks, the Machine reviews old footage in the present, meaning that it would assign the coloured squares according to what it knows about the characters in the current timeline. Therefore, the yellow square it assigned Reese in various flashbacks before Finch told him about the Machine only indicate that the Machine uses a present day indicator, not that Reese knew about the Machine before meeting Finch. External links *Technologies and Analyses in CBS’ Person of Interest *The Machine is real es:La máquina Machine Machine